It was a Blockbuster night for No. 6 Florida State and coach Bobby Bowden.

The No. 6 Seminoles defeated Penn State 24-17 before a sellout crowd of 74,021 at Joe Robbie Stadium in the inaugural Blockbuster Bowl, giving Bowden his first victory over Joe Paterno against 10 losses.

The win makes the Seminoles 10-2 for the season -- their fourth straight 10- win season -- and assures them of a fourth consecutive finish in the Top 5. Bowden now has won nine straight bowl games and is 10-3-1 for his career, best among active coaches.

``I never enjoyed a bowl better than this one because of the association with Joe. My team finally won,`` Bowden said. ``When you beat a Paterno-coached team, it`s a feeling of accomplishment.

``It should put us in the Top 3 if the right people lose. This might be the year where nobody deserves it (the national championship).``

No. 7 Penn State finishes at 9-3 after its nine-game winning streak was halted.

``We had a lot of opportunities to make it, and for whatever reason, we didn`t do it and that`s to Florida State`s credit,`` Paterno said. ``They played great defense when they had to.``

Florida State`s Amp Lee scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards and won the Brian Piccolo Most Valuable Player Award. He rushed for 86 yards on 21 carries and caught five passes for 32 yards. The Seminoles rushed for 152 yards against a defense that had been allowing only 94.5 yards per game on the ground.

``The line did a great job,`` Lee said. ``We haven`t played a better team than Penn State.``

``Coach Bowden said Penn State would have deserved the national championship if they had beaten us,`` Weldon said. ``We beat them so that says a lot for us. If there was a playoff, I think we would be pretty tough to beat.``

Florida State set the tone for the game by scoring 10 points in its first two possessions, but it was the Seminoles` defense that repeatedly held off Penn State in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.

``The 10-0 lead forced us to make something happen, and things got a little out of whack,`` Paterno said.

The Seminoles took the opening kickoff and went 59 yards to set up Andrews` 41-yard field goal.

Then, FSU`s Chris Keen partially blocked Doug Helkowski`s 37-yard punt. When the ball bounced at the Florida State 45, Terrell Buckley picked it up, was chased back to the 29, then turned upfield and made the play a 39-yard return to the Penn State 15.

``I was just trying to get to wall and I thought I had enough time,`` Buckley said. ``I kept working my way to the right. By the time, I hit the wall I was super tired.

``It feels great to beat Penn State. A lot of the critics felt they were No. 1 and we beat them.``

FSU drove 14 yards to the 1, and Lee scored to give FSU a 10-0 lead.

The teams traded touchdowns before halftime. Sacca threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Daniels, and Lee scored from 7 yards to complete a 70-yard drive in which Weldon hit four passes for 59 yards, including two to Dawsey for 37 yards.

Fayak had a 22-yard field goal blocked by Tommy Henry, and Sacca was intercepted by Leon Fowler at the Florida State 28 to stop scoring chances by the Nittany Lions and leave the Seminoles ahead 17-7 at halftime.

Fayak`s field goal pulled Penn State to within 17-10 with 7:32 left in the third quarter, but Florida State answered with a 58-yard drive that ended with Weldon`s touchdown run.

Weldon completed four passes in the drive for 52 yards, including one of 22 yards to Dawsey on third and 6 from the Florida State 46.

The 24-10 lead held until Bill replaced Sacca with 7:32 left and drove the Nittany Lions to an immediate touchdown when he hit Smith with 6:27 remaining.

Penn State had two more chances. It moved to midfield but chose to punt with with 3:53 left. Then, the Nittany Lions moved to the Florida State 29, where safety John Davis intercepted a Bill pass with 2:54 to play. The ball was spotted at the 1.

After the interception, Florida State converted when Weldon threw 5 yards to Edgar Bennett on third and 3 from 8.

``It was the kind of play we had to have to win the game,`` Weldon said. ``We couldn`t keep asking our defense to get it done.``

For Florida State, the offense scored the points but the defense won the game.

``It was up to the defense in the fourth quarter,`` linebacker Kirk Carruthers said. ``We had to make some great plays, but it was a little scary.